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Colorado wildfires burning at multiple sites, some at zero containment

By Ryan ParkerThe Denver Post

Posted:
06/21/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated:
06/21/2013 08:59:03 AM MDT

A helicopter goes in to make a water drop as flames consume stands of trees on U.S. Forest Service land in the Lime Gulch fire near Conifer. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Wildfires continued to burn across Colorado on Thursday, some destroying structures while others took direct aim at tourism.

And the National Weather Service's forecast for the next seven days, with temperatures in the 90s, doesn't point to any quick relief.

The East Peak fire, originally dubbed the Scout Ranch fire, in southern Colorado has grown to 9,000 acres with zero percent containment, forcing mandatory evacuations for residents east of the town of La Veta all the way to Interstate 25, and south of Walsenburg to the Las Animas County line.

The fire has destroyed as many as 10 structures, including the Boy Scout ranch.

Also, 178 Boy Scouts who had been camping in the mountains of the Spanish Peaks were evacuated.

The fire, pushed by strong winds, is running to the east and southeast, fire officials said.

The West Fork fire has burned more than 18,000 acres in southwestern Colorado and forced the closure of U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass.

Evacuations extended from the top of Wolf Creek Pass along U.S. 160 all the way to the South Fork city limits. On Friday morning the town of South Fork was ordered to evacuate because of wildfire.

Other evacuations included the Lake Humphreys and 4UR Ranch areas on the north side of the Weminuche Wilderness, about 6 miles south of Wagon Wheel Gap and the Metroz Lake area.

Closer to Denver, the Lime Gulch fire in Jefferson County has burned 600 acres and forced the closure of Waterton Canyon on Thursday.

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Commander Dan Dallas of Rocky Mountain Area Incident Management Team B said Thursday afternoon that 20 to 30 homes remain at risk of fire damage near South Foxton Road and Platte River Road, but structure-protection crews are nearby.

The fire, which officials believe was caused by lightning, forced 100 people south of Conifer to evacuate their homes Wednesday afternoon, and evacuations remain in effect. About 255 firefighters are battling the blaze, fire officials said.

"The word from the field is things are going well," Dallas said.

Other wildfires currently in Colorado include:

• The Wild Rose fire near Rangely in Rio Blanco County, which has burned 850 acres and is in the vicinity of numerous oil and gas facilities. That fire is zero percent contained.

• The Bull Gulch fire is burning north of U.S. 50 on Bureau of Land Management-maintained lands, approximately 1 mile east of Table Mountain, and about 9 miles northwest of the intersection of Road Gulch and Copper Gulch Road to the west of Cañon City. That fire has burned 150 acres and is 5 percent contained.

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